This is an activity about the Earth's revolution as it relates to the zodiac. Learners will role-play, acting as the revolving Earth and Sun, while others will hold signs of the 12 zodiac constellation names to form a circle around the Earth-Sun...(View More) system. Then, they will model the motion of the Earth-Sun system during the year in order to visualize why the Sun appears to move into different constellations. This is Activity F-9 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase.(View Less)

This is an activity about how we measure the brightness of stars in the night sky. Learners will use interpolation to determine brightness, then observe the brightness of Delta Cephei over the course of two weeks, and plot their observations as a...(View More) light curve. This is activity G-7 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase.(View Less)

This is an activity about using large numbers in astronomy. Learners will first estimate how long it would take to count to a billion, if it was a full-time job. Then, they will judge their estimates using a calculator to get a more definitive...(View More) answer. Finally, they will calculate the time or speed needed to travel to the star, Proxima Centauri. This is Activity M-7 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase.(View Less)

This is an activity about the shape of the Earth’s orbit. Learners will first use elements of the orbit of Earth and Pluto and an apparatus using string, a pencil, and pushpins to accurately draw an ellipse, showing the nearly circular shape of...(View More) the orbits of Earth and Pluto. They then measure real images of the Sun in each season, determining the apparent size of the Sun to see if it changes throughout the year. By determining the apparent size of each Sun image and by seeing the shape of Earth's orbit, learners will confront the misconception that seasons are caused by changing distance of the Earth from the Sun. Finally, learners reflect on the results of the Sun-Earth Survey, which is Activity 2 in this set. This is Activity 4 in the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) guide titled Real Reasons for Seasons: Sun-Earth Connections. The resource guide is available for purchase from the Lawrence Hall of Science. This activity recommends use of an overhead projector.(View Less)

This is an activity about the size and scale of the Sun-Earth system. Learners will take an imaginary trip to the Sun by comparing images of the Sun and Earth at different points in altitude above the Earth. This is to ultimately conceptualize the...(View More) spherical shape of the Earth, which is key to understanding the cause of the seasons. They will then produce a scale model of the Sun and Earth to reinforce the idea that the distance to the Sun is enormous compared with the size of the Earth. Finally, learners reflect on Question 3 of the Sun-Earth Survey, which is the prior activity in this set. This is Activity 3 in the Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) guide titled Real Reasons for Seasons: Sun-Earth Connections. An additional related activity, entitled Scale Models of the Earth-Moon System and the Solar System, is included in the CD-ROM enclosed with the resource guide. The resource guide is available for purchase from the Lawrence Hall of Science. This activity recommends use of an overhead projector, and requires use of a small scale model toy, such as a car or any other toy made to scale, and a rigid globe or large ball like a soccer ball or basketball.(View Less)

This activity is about astronomical themes. Learners will use a U.S. Atlas or the internet to search for names of cities or natural features named after astronomical objects. Their lists may be used to stimulate discussion or to begin creative...(View More) writing assignments about why a particular place might have an astronomical name. This is activity M-8 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which is available for purchase.(View Less)

This is a lesson about measuring star size. Learners will use eclipsing binary systems to measure star diameters. This is Activity G-8 of Universe at Your Fingertips 2.0: A Collection of Activities and Resources for Teaching Astronomy DVD-ROM, which...(View More) is available for purchase.(View Less)

This is a lesson about sorting and classification. In groups, learners will sort twenty images of galaxies into categories of their own devising. Then, the groups compare notes about their sorting criteria and learn more about what the different...(View More) visual characteristics of galaxies imply. This is Actividad 8.5 as part of El Universo a Sus Pies, a Spanish-language curriculum available for purchase.(View Less)

This interactive, online module allows learners to study the history of the discovery of black holes. Learners may work independently or in small groups to complete the activity. By completing this activity students learn the history of the...(View More) discovery of black holes. This activity is a subsection of the "Is a Black Hole Really A Hole?" within the online exploration "No Escape: The Truth about Black Holes." Detailed teacher pages, identified as Teaching Tips on the title page of the activity, provide science background information, lesson plan ideas, related resources, and alignment with national education standards.(View Less)

This is a lesson about representative sampling. When given parts of the Hubble Deep Field image, learners will count the number of galaxies in one sample section of the image. Then, they will calculate how many galaxies there are in each whole image...(View More) and how many objects the Hubble Space Telescope could see in the entire Universe. This is Actividad 8.6 as part of El Universo a Sus Pies, a Spanish-language curriculum available for purchase.(View Less)